Saturday was our playoff game in Fall Ball. Yes, we’re still playing baseball too; it’s great. The hope was to make a little noise in the playoffs. The first team we were playing we had beaten earlier in the regular season. For that reason, we had a plan to manage the pitching staff, which would be a key to getting through the weekend. You know what they say about hindsight…
It started off perfectly. Our #3 pitcher only allowed 2 runs in the first inning; in the bottom of the inning, we came out and scored 6. The 2nd inning was a rough one. Our kid wasn’t extremely wild, but a lot of close misses and a few plays that we didn’t make on defense, and the inning snowballed. There were 5 runs in, and because they could only score 7 in an inning, I just let it go. After scoring 7, they were up 9-6; I still felt good. Shockingly, we put up a goose egg; that didn’t feel right. We didn’t put up many goose eggs. Our #3 went back out there for the 3rd; if he had it, I’d let him in… if he didn’t, we’d pull him. He gave up another run, had no outs, so I grabbed him. My son would come in and shut them down the rest of the inning; a 10-6 deficit going into the bottom of the 3rd. Another goose egg… wow. It was a combination of things. We hit a few balls right at them; they made some really nice, close plays against us. They were playing their best, and we couldn’t catch a break.. it was a bad combo.
In the top of the 4th, my son absolutely blew them away. He pitched the best I had ever seen him pitch, and for me, that’s what it’s all about. Selfishly, this is my favorite thing; seeing my son play. To see him pitch like this… just awesome. We needed 4 runs in the bottom of the inning to keep this going; the time was coming close, so it was the decision of the umpire, agreed by both coaches, that this would be it, unless the game was tied. We had a team huddle, got pumped up, and we were ready to go. We were at the bottom of the lineup, but… if we could just get back to the top… and we did. Our leadoff hitter came up with 2 outs and the bases loaded. He lined one into the outfield, 2 runs scored; 10-8. Next up was my son; with runners on 2nd and 3rd, a hit would more than likely tie the game. He kept us in it with his pitching the last 2 innings, and now was in position to tie it up. He struck out… the tears began to flow, the game was over, we had come up short… this one hurt. I had flashbacks to those times where I had tough losses as a kid, sitting in my basement, with my dad pouring water over my head in the big sink, as I cried my eyes out. It was a rough ending to a really great season.
It’s because he cares so much; he wants to win so bad. Couple that with him having the talent to be one of the best kids, and yeah… I understand his feelings 100%. He was super bummed, as was I… as was my wife who was there to see it all unfold. I looked back and thought what we could have done differently… I felt good about our plan; unfortunately, it didn’t work out. Time to look ahead… My son has performed really well on the big stage; this strikeout was probably the first time he came up short, and I told him: if I had to do it all over again, and have him up there at bat, with the game in his hands, I’d take that every time… I still believe he would come through… and next time, he will. Until next time…
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